TNA Impact returned tonight (November 25, 2015) with the pretaped conclusion to group play of the World Title Series. Let's get right to it.
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DJ Z pins Manik in a triple threat that included Tigre Uno to advance in the World Title Series. The match then becomes a one on one match between Manik and Tigre. Tigre Uno hits a modified moonsault on Manik and picks up the pinfall to advance.
This was a fun mutili-man match to decide who advances. It was your typical X Division fare with plenty of innovative moves and high flying. It's unfortunate that the past six months have given us little to no reason to care about any of these characters. Since DJ Z left the Bro Mans, he's been just there. Tigre, despite being the X Division champ, has had little to invest in. Manik has had some story, but his story about leaving the Revolution was occured after all this was taped and you can easily tell that this is the character from the summer.
None of that made this a bad match at all. But unfortunately, when there's no investment in the people in the ring and you don't really care which two move forward, it's never going to be more than a bunch of flippy sh*%. Again, this is to take nothing away from the guys who put on a fun match with what they had to work with.
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Drew Galloway defeats Rockstar Spud to advance to the next round.
Often matches between two men with such a size discrepancy are hard to believe. But they structured this match in a way where Rockstar Spud had multiple near win and they were all believable. Drew was dominant early in the match, but when he tried to knock Spud into the ring steps on the outside, Spud moved out of the way and Drew crashed hard. This lead to a near count out for Spud.
After Drew missed a spear in the corner, he nailed his shoulder instead which eventually lead to another believable Spud near victory. Towards the end of the match, Galloway had a chance to power bomb Spud from the apron to the floor but opted not to do it because he felt it was too cruel, and Spud almost made him pay again with a kick to the head and DDT.
In the end, Drew picked up a win that was almost guaranteed but they were able to set up three of four legit near finishes that really made the match exciting.
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Bram defeats Grado via roll up in the first 10 seconds of the match because Grado was too busy dancing.
With that, Bram joins Drew Galloway to advance in the World Title Series, eliminating Rockstar Spud and Grado.
I actually laughed aloud as I typed that first sentence. And that's fine. It was either that or the destruction of Grado. In no way should it ever have been close. And Grado is an idiot so stuff like this should happen and we should all laugh at it because it's pretty funny.
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Jessie Godderz defeats Micah via submission.
Jessie Godderz and Eli Drake advance while Micah and Crimson (who lost to everyone) do not.
I don't think Micah has ever been featured as much on TNA TV as he was tonight. He got a ton of offense in before Jessie got the upperhand. Obviously Jessie, who has had stories in the past and some what of an on-air personality, was the right choice to advance, as was Eli Drake. It's a shame that Micah, all this time, has been a forgotten man because he can wrestle.
Much like before when discussing Group Future Four, there isn't much to say about a group who had only half of their matches fully televised.
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Impact airs a video package of Kurt Angle doing a media tour in England. This includes a clip of him announcing that the upcoming UK tour will be his last tour with TNA.
I'm glad Kurt is deciding to move on. I don't know if it's beyond wrestling or just TNA. Either way, I hope he stays healthy. My bet would be that this is it for wrestling unless WWE is willing to do business.
The big questions is how will TNA send him off in TNA and who will be his last TNA match? Leave your guesses below.
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Davey Richards defeats Robbie E via pinfall to advance in the World Title Series.
He joins Matt Hardy as the two who advance while Robbie E and Eddie Edwards does not.
This was a bit disappointing. Part of it is just that I'm a big Robbie fan, and I wanted to see him advance. But also, they were telling his underdogs story this entire Series while Davey didn't have any story at all. It would make more sense that if they're trying to build someone up as a legit competitor, they'd have him win 2 out of 3 of the matches. Losing two makes the "well, he tried" narrative fall flatter.
It was a good match and I enjoy Davey Richards so I have no issue with him advancing. It just feels disjointed with the story they were telling with Robbie as they told no story at all with Davey.
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Kenny King defeats Crazzy Steve via pinfall.
This loss eliminates Crazzy Steve and Aiden O'Shea. Mahabali Shera and Kenny King advance.
This match is what is its. Crazzy Steve used his clown horn on occasion in the middle of that match because that's what he does. Kenny King wrestled and look impressive doing it because that's what he does. In the end, Steve picked up the pace and the last minute was fairly fun because of it and King got the win. Not really much to say here.
The most interesting aspect of this is Kenny King is the only person actively wrestling on another televised promotion to advance in the World Title Series.
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Bobby Lashley defeats Austin Aries via pinfall.
Lashley joins Ethan Carter in advancing. Aries and Mr. Anderson (who has been mathematically eliminated for weeks) do not.
This was a really fun match for the main event, but that's not surprising. I love Austin Aries. Just the way he moves in the ring makes him always entertaining to watch. Bobby Lashley is a power guy who can also move well given his size. The match they put together tonight lead to a spot (which may or may not have been on purpose) where Aries missed a suicide dive. At that point, it was when there were only five minutes left and a time limit draw would allow Aries to advance.
Unfortunately, Aries' crash on the floor lead to referee Earl Henber keeping Lashley back as he tended to Aries. By the time action got started, there was only 90 seconds left. In that time, Lashley had to escape a quickly applied Last Chancery and avoid an 450 splash, to eventually hit a spear to defeat Aries.
It was a good match between two guys who will likely give you a good match.
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To close the show, TNA laid out its very intriguing single elimination bracket that starts next week. The match ups can be found here (they don't have the bracket lay out on the TNA site yet), and look for a post from me in the next couple days with the full bracket, my picks, and a little early preview of it all on Friday.
Pros of the Show:
A lot of fun matches
Main event was strong with Aries and Lashley
Spud vs. Drew was well laid out and made you believe the near falls despite their size difference
Cons of the Show:
Lack of characters you can connect with kept a pretty fun X Division match from being better
It was odd not having Robbie go over in the story about him proving people wrong.
The close of group play tonight was overall enjoyable and the new bracket has me pretty pumped up for the next round.